VPS vs. Dedicated Hosting: What’s The Difference?

If you need more resources than shared hosting can offer, there’s a good chance you’re going to end up going with one of two options – either a virtual private server or a dedicated server. Thing is, some hosts are…actually pretty bad at explaining what they are, and how they differ from one another. That’s where we come in.

We’ll clear the air, and help you decide which type of server is the best fit for your organization.

What’s a Virtual Private Server?

With a VPS, you’re provided with a fully-virtualized operating environment. While this environment may be linked to physical hardware in some capacity, the truth is that the resources you’re provided with – your RAM, processor cores, and disk space – exist independently of any actual server. This allows resource provisioning to be done with ease, and allows you access to an impressive degree of processing power without requiring any hardware management on your part.

The level of power offered by a VPS varies – some hosts offer several virtual private servers on a single dedicated servers, while others devote an entire server to a single VPS.

What’s a Dedicated Server?

A dedicated server is a lot simpler to explain – it’s literally just a full physical server, dedicated to a single client. Assuming you’ve chosen an unmanaged hosting plan, you’ve full control over your hardware, and may also be responsible for installation and maintenance. A host will generally provide a few options for preconfigured dedicated servers, and will also work with a client to install and configure custom hardware to suit unique use cases.

Which One Should I Use?

And now, the million dollar question: should your business go with a VPS or a dedicated hosting plan?

Honestly, it depends what you’re planning to use it for. If you’ve a resource-intensive platform or service to run – a game server, for example, or a calculation-heavy database – then you should probably spring for a dedicated server. Dedicated servers are also a good choice if you aren’t planning on any significant expansion in the coming months or years.

If flexibility is critical, however, a VPS might be a better choice. That’s especially true if you’re hosting a website or doing software development, as new resources and operating environments can be spun up with relative ease. Virtual private servers are also a good choice for hosting file servers and DNS servers.

Ultimately, which option you choose depends entirely on your needs. But whatever those needs are, Cyber Wurx can help meet them. Contact us today to see what we can do for your business – and why we’re the right choice no matter what you need to host.